Speaking of get-togethers...

We haven't nailed down a definite date yet, but my youngest sister, Monica, her husband, Luis Carlos, and 10-month-old son, Sebastian, are planning to visit another sister, Ivonne, in New Jersey and then come to Tennessee to see their brother, Steve. We have been in contact since 2006, but Ivonne and I will be meeting Monica for the first time. Monica had never met our father - she saw him for the first time at his funeral in 2002. She contacted us four years later and informed us of his death.

Ivonne and I have met twice this year; before that, it had been 44 years since we saw each other in Venezuela. Then there are Mark and Matthew, who Monica knows but Ivonne and I haven't met... not to mention Lorena, who has met Mark, Matthew, and Monica but not the rest of us. Then there is Lloyd, who shares the same mother and father with Ivonne, and Cliff and Kyle, who share both my mother and father. Confusing, eh? This is our father's legacy - nine kids, separated by a lot of miles, different languages and cultures, and just itching to share our stories.